Time as a Metaphor of History: Early India

Thapar, Romila

doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195637984.001.0001

Cited by 47 publications

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“…11 The co-existence of IE tribes and DR castes indicates a complex historical interaction and suggests no 'one to one correlation' between language and this social organization. 12 In spite of the consensus on the relatively uniform maternal gene pool of Indian populations and the large efforts through many philological, 13,14 archaeological 15,16 and recent molecular genetic approaches to elucidate rival models, 6,7,9,11,12,[17][18][19][20][21] the history and concepts of the origin of the caste system are still controversial and unclear. The competing main models (the first of them based on shared IE languages) suggest that contemporary Hindu Indians are descendants of primarily West Eurasians who migrated from the Near east, Antolia and the Caucasus 3000-8000 years ago, 13,14 which has been supported by the demic diffusion model 1,22 and validated by molecular genetic data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Indian origin of paternal haplogroup R1a1* substantiates the autochthonous origin of Brahmins and the caste system

et al. 2009

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Many major rival models of the origin of the Hindu caste system co-exist despite extensive studies, each with associated genetic evidences. One of the major factors that has still kept the origin of the Indian caste system obscure is the unresolved question of the origin of Y-haplogroup R1a1*, at times associated with a male-mediated major genetic influx from Central Asia or Eurasia, which has contributed to the higher castes in India. Y-haplogroup R1a1* has a widespread distribution and high frequency across Eurasia, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, with scanty reports of its ancestral (R*, R1* and R1a*) and derived lineages (R1a1a, R1a1b and R1a1c). To resolve these issues, we screened 621 Y-chromosomes (of Brahmins occupying the upper-most caste position and schedule castes/tribals occupying the lower-most positions) with 55 Y-chromosomal binary markers and seven Y-microsatellite markers and compiled an extensive dataset of 2809 Y-chromosomes (681 Brahmins, and 2128 tribals and schedule castes) for conclusions. A peculiar observation of the highest frequency (up to 72.22%) of Yhaplogroup R1a1* in Brahmins hinted at its presence as a founder lineage for this caste group. Further, observation of R1a1* in different tribal population groups, existence of Y-haplogroup R1a* in ancestors and extended phylogenetic analyses of the pooled dataset of 530 Indians, 224 Pakistanis and 276 Central Asians and Eurasians bearing the R1a1* haplogroup supported the autochthonous origin of R1a1 lineage in India and a tribal link to Indian Brahmins. However, it is important to discover novel Y-chromosomal binary marker(s) for a higher resolution of R1a1* and confirm the present conclusions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Indian origin of paternal haplogroup R1a1* substantiates the autochthonous origin of Brahmins and the caste system

et al. 2009

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“…Normally ␤-thalassemia trait in India is 3.3% with 1-2 per 1,000 couples being at risk of having an affected offspring each year, leading to a high societal burden [2]. As the ethnic composition of the Indian popu-lation is heterogeneous [3], each region of the country has its own distinct set and frequency of ␤-thalassemia mutations [4]. Orkin et al (5, Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spectrum of β‐thalassemia mutations and their association with allelic sequence polymorphisms at the β‐globin gene cluster in an eastern Indian population

et al. 2002

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In this report, the spectrum of ␤-thalassemia mutations and genotype-to-phenotype correlations were defined in large number of patients (␤-thalassemia carriers and major) with varying disease severity in an Eastern Indian population mainly from the state of West Bengal. The five most common ␤-thalassemia mutations were detected, which included IVS1-5 (G➝C), codon 15 (G➝A), codon 26 (G➝A), codon 30 (G➝C), and codon 41/42 (−TCTT). These accounted for 85% in 80 ␤-thalassemic alleles deciphered from 56 patients, including ␤-thalassemia major and carriers, and 15% of alleles remained uncharacterized in these patients. Expression of the human ␤-globin gene is regulated by an array of cis-acting DNA elements, including five DNase I hypersensitive sites (HSs) in the locus control region (LCR), promoters that incorporate certain silencer elements, and enhancers at 3 of the ␤-globin gene. For detailed studies and to understand the molecular basis of ␤-thalassemia, we studied two groups of subjects: a group of 12 patients from four families having ␤-thalassemia major and carrier phenotype and a control group of 26 healthy individuals. In these two groups, we examined portions of the ␤-globin gene locus control region HSs 1, 2, 3, and 4, which included the (CA) x (TA) y repeat motif, the (AT) x N y (AT) z repeat motif, the inverted repeat sequence TGGGGACCCCA, the promoter region of the G ␥-globin gene, an (AT) x (T) y repeat 5 of the silencer region, and the ␤-globin gene and its 3 flanking region. We investigated the allelic sequence polymorphisms in these regions and their association with the ␤-thalassemia mutations to know the possible genotype-phenotype relationship in ␤-thalassemia patients. An analysis of cisacting regulatory regions showed varied sequence haplotypes associated with some frequent ␤-thalassemia mutations in this Eastern Indian population. Am.

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“…As Romila Thapar has argued for the Deorala case, 112 the Barh sati differed from other contemporaneous instances of sati not because of the specifics of its performance, but because of the attempt by certain sections of the community to justify it at a specific historical juncture. Dominant social and political concerns coalesced to make the events surrounding this immolation and its prosecution particularly relevant, as the immolation became a site on which a revivalist-nationalist defence of Hindu identity intersected with the criminal jurisdiction of the colonial state.…”

Section: The Aftermathmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Burning of Sampati Kuer: Sati and the Politics of Imperialism, Nationalism and Revivalism in 1920s India

Major

2008

Gender & History

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Sati, the immolation of a Hindu widow on her husband's funeral pyre, is a rare, but highly controversial practice. It has inspired a surfeit of scholarly studies in the last twenty years, most of which concentrate on one of two main historical sati ‘episodes’: that of early‐colonial Bengal, culminating with the British prohibition of 1829, and that of late twentieth‐century Rajasthan, epitomised by the immolation of Roop Kanwar in 1987. Comparatively little detailed historical analysis exists on sati cases between these two events, however, a lacuna this paper seeks to address by exploring British and Indian discourses on sati as they existed in late‐colonial India. The paper argues that sati remained a site of ideological and actual confrontation in the early twentieth century, with important implications for ongoing debates about Hindu religion, identity and nation. It focuses on the intersection between various colonial debates and contemporaneous Indian social and political concerns during the controversy surrounding the immolation of Sampati Kuer in Barh, Bihar, in 1927, emphasising resonances with postcolonial interpretations of sati and the dissonance of early nineteenth‐century tropes when reproduced in the Patna High Court in 1928. Thus, while Kumkum Sangari and Sudesh Vaid have suggested that ‘ad hoc’ attempts to piece together a ‘modern’ narrative of widow immolation began in the 1950s, this paper will suggest that various contemporary discursive formations on sati can be observed in late‐colonial India, when discussions of sati became entwined with Indian nationalism and Hindu identity politics and evoked the first organised female response to sati from an emergent women's movement that saw it as an ideological, as well as physical, violation of women.

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Time as a Metaphor of History: Early India

Cited by 47 publications

References 0 publications

The Indian origin of paternal haplogroup R1a1* substantiates the autochthonous origin of Brahmins and the caste system

The Indian origin of paternal haplogroup R1a1* substantiates the autochthonous origin of Brahmins and the caste system

Spectrum of β‐thalassemia mutations and their association with allelic sequence polymorphisms at the β‐globin gene cluster in an eastern Indian population

The Burning of Sampati Kuer: Sati and the Politics of Imperialism, Nationalism and Revivalism in 1920s India

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